The popular public house located in Heaton is due to close for a full refurbishment in a tight 16 week programme.

We have successfully won these works and are due to start on site this April. Works within the refurbishment will include new custom made bar areas, commercial kitch-en, function suite and new beer garden externally.

These works will ensure that Sir John Fitzgerald keep up with competition with a new warm pub, serving homely food in a clean modern environment along with a fresh function and events facility.

Works involved the isolation of all existing mechanical and electrical services. A full strip out of all cubicles, sanitaryware, vinyl flooring, ceramic tiling and demolish internal walls to create new toilet layouts.

We have completed a major refurbishment of the Chillingham Arms Public House in Heaton, Newcastle. The pub is part of the Sir John Fitzgerald chain, which includes Newcastle’s Crown Posada, Fitzgeralds, The Bacchus, The Bodega and Cafe Royal. The pub, a mock-georgian two storey property built in the 1920’s, has had a huge refurbishment. Gone is the older style and instead it has had an overhaul with dark grey paint and all new signage externally which looks impressive. A nice new purple colour scheme, plush new carpets internally, and a complete new bar awaits visitors. A new commercial kitchen and cellar were installed to allow the pub to provide an A* service. The layout is better now too, allowing customers to get to the bar from the lounge – previously having to nip outside to gain access. There is also an attractive outside beer garden area for customers to enjoy in the warmer months.

This project comprised the redevelopment of the former Barclays Bank unit adjacent to the existing cinema and provision of an art space and fourth screen on the third/fourth floor. A new bar/restaurant was created within the ground floor and a new kitchen facility was crafted in the existing basement space, the former bank vaults.

The existing Tyneside Cinema building is Grade II listed. The site is land-locked within the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne city centre, and is surrounded by retail and commercial properties.

There are five bus stops on the short stretch of Pilgrim Street on which the site is located, with one of these situated directly outside of the former Barclays Bank unit. This stretch of Pilgrim Street is a bus-only highway between the hours of 7am and 7pm, therefore access to the site for deliveries and removal of waste was strictly limited to take place outside of these hours.

The cinema’s main entrance is on High Friar Lane, off Pilgrim Street. As the cinema continued to operate throughout the project, it was vital that the entrance was maintained without interruption during the works. Additionally, Intermezzo Café, located on the corner of the block and therefore surrounded by the cinema building at the side and rear, has a main entrance on Pilgrim Street which had to be maintained throughout the project.

A hoarding was erected to the frontage of the Barclays Bank unit early in the project. A hoarding license was granted by the council on the basis that it must not encroach upon or restrict pedestrian traffic on Pilgrim Street, particularly given the close location of the bus stop.

As the cinema continued to operate during the construction works, close management was necessary to ensure that noise did not adversely affect scheduled screenings. Noisy works were therefore restricted to outside of the cinema’s opening hours, which are 10am till 11pm daily.